The best tenant screening services offer criminal background checks, employment and income verification, and eviction history—all at an affordable price for landlords, tenants, and property managers. Depending on state laws, landlords can charge tenants for the application and tenant background check fees.
Top 6 Tenant Screening Services
Tenant Screening Services | Best for | Pricing from |
|---|---|---|
Budget-conscious landlords | $19.99 | |
Screening report interpreters | $18.95 | |
Flexible a la carte menu | $10 | |
Optional property management tools | $25 | |
Screening from a credit bureau | $25 | |
Marketing vacancies | $35 |
Which Tenant Screening Service Is Right for You?
MyRental: Overall Best Tenant Screening Service
MyRental is best for budget-conscious landlords. If the rental applicant is denied, this is the only tenant screening service that generates Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-compliant adverse action letters automatically. Starting at $19.99, MyRental provides greater comprehensive reporting than RentPrep or LeaseRunner.
MyRental Pricing & Features
Basic Plan | Premium Plan | Premium Plus Plan | A La Carte Menu | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing | $19.99 | $29.99 | $34.99 | Starting at $7.99 |
Credit Reporting | ✔ | ✔ | $14.99 | |
Multistate Criminal Background Check | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | $19.99 |
Landlord, Prior Residence & Eviction Checks | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | $7.99 |
Employment & Income Verification | ✔ | ✔ | ✕ | |
Adverse Action Letter Created | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✕ |
Compare Score by Location | ✔ | ✕ | ||
Landlord Acceptance Rate | ✔ | ✕ |
RentPrep: Best Tenant Background Check for Report Interpretation
RentPrep stands out because it utilizes certified agents to assist with interpreting the tenant background check at no additional charge. Even with live screeners, its pricing is comparable to the others, ranging from $18.95 to $35. This service is right for landlords who need help interpreting screening reports.
RentPrep Pricing & Features
RentPrep Tenant Background Check | SmartMove Full Credit Report | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | $18.95 | $35 |
Credit Reporting | ✔ | |
Criminal Background Check | ✔ | |
Landlord, Prior Residence & Eviction Checks | ✔ | ✔ |
Income & Employment Verification | ✔ | |
Judgment, Lien & Bankruptcies | ✔ | ✔ (Add-on) |
LeaseRunner: Best Flexible a La Carte Menu
LeaseRunner doesn’t offer packages. Instead, it offers an a la carte menu, so landlords can select the individual reports they need. LeaseRunner tenant background checks are more rigorous than those provided by the other tenant screening services. It’s important to note that if each individual report were chosen, the total cost would be $57 per applicant, making LeaseRunner the most expensive. LeaseRunner is right for landlords who want individual rental background reports.
LeaseRunner a La Carte Pricing & Features
Report Type | Price | What’s Included |
|---|---|---|
Credit Report | $20 | Previous addresses and current employment verification |
Criminal Background Check | $15 | 50 states, sex offender registries, federal terrorist watchlists |
Financial Report | $10 | Bank balances, deposits, withdrawals |
National Eviction Report | $12 | Evictions and property damage |
A La Carte Leasing | Up to $30 | Rental applications, rent collection, lease templates |
Avail: Best for Online Property Management Tools
Avail offers landlords three tenant background screening plans. Like our other providers that offer plans, each plan provides an increasing degree of verifications and checks. Unlike many of our included companies, Avail also offers full-service property management. Avail’s basic tenant screening service is free.
Avail Pricing & Features
Applications | Renter Profile | Credit Plus | Full Screening |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing | Free | $25 | $45 |
TransUnion Credit Score | ✔ | ✔ | |
Credit History | ✔ | ✔ | |
Nationwide Criminal, Terror List & Sex Offender Check | ✔ | ||
Rental & Employment Histories | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Income Verification | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Adverse Items | ✔ | ✔ | |
Evictions | ✔ |
TransUnion SmartMove: Best Direct Tenant Screening From a Credit Bureau
TransUnion SmartMove offers three different tiered plans with prices ranging from $25 to $40 per applicant. TransUnion SmartMove also offers an additional feature with all of its plans called a Credit-based Resident Score, which gives an overall tenant score developed by TransUnion. TransUnion SmartMove is ideal for landlords and property managers who trust the affiliation with TransUnion or who want an alternative to MyRental.
TransUnion SmartMove Pricing & Features
SmartCheck Basic Plan | SmartCheck Basic Plus Plan | SmartCheck Premium Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing | $25 | $38 | $40 |
Full Credit Reporting | ✔ | ✔ | |
Credit-based Resident Score | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Criminal Background Check | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Landlord, Prior Residence & Eviction Checks | ✔ | ✔ | |
Income Insights | ✔ |
TurboTenant: Best for Marketing Vacancies
TurboTenant is a tenant screening service with a platform that allows for posting available rentals. TurboTenant doesn’t have packages. Instead, there is a $35 to $45 fee per tenant application. It’s best for landlords, real estate agents, and property managers who want to screen applicants and to market and post vacant units.
TurboTenant Pricing & Features
Report Type | Price | What’s Included |
|---|---|---|
Tier 1 | $35 | Credit report & criminal background |
Tier 2 | $45 | Everything in tier 1, plus eviction report |
Marketing | Free | Vacant rental listing |
Bottom Line
Tenant screening services help landlords, real estate agents, and property management firms run tenant background checks, credit reports, and eviction checks as well as verify employment and income. This helps landlords assess whether applicants are qualified to rent a house or an apartment.
Justin Hieggelke
Hi Michelle,
I have a few rental properties and use rentapplication.net for my application and tenant screening. I know some others asked about landlord verifications and I know they offer them (as well as employer verifications). I like how flexible their system is – it lets me set up credit, criminal, eviction and my verifications – depending on what I plan to use.
Amanda Norman
Hi Justin,
Thank you for the suggestion. We typically review and update our articles once a year, and we can check them out then.
Thanks for reading and sharing!
Mandy, Moderator
Jay Apple
I am the co-founder of TenantMagic. We provide online rental application with comprehensive credit, criminal, eviction and sex offender reports. We are in all 50 states and have been growing steadily due to our outstanding customer service. Don’t take my word for it check out our Google reviews.
Laura Handrick
Hi Jay,
Have you considered submitting your application to have your site reviewed? You can go to our reviews page, scroll down and fill out an application. Meanwhile, we can check out your site on our next update of this article. Best.
Radu Popescu
Hi Michelle and all,
I used to use houserie.com, but Overstock bought them and turned them off. Too bad, myself and all my tenants had been very happy with Houserie.
I just tried MyRental and their basic database knowledge is quite poor. I entered my first property and it doesn’t show up when trying to setup potential tenants to apply for the rental. I called and they said you have to type in the property address with each applicant, which means they can’t track all your applicants over time.
I am also worried about your review putting MyRental as number one since there is a pop-up on this page sending one to MyRental – so you are getting a kickback if I click on that popup link. You should disclose this. Sorry but I am sure others have noticed, so this is good advice for you.
Laura Handrick
Hi Radu, you are correct that Fit Small Business participates in affiliate advertising. However, we do our own research (editorially independent of our biz dev team) to recommend the best. Once a vendor is chosen as “best” they often are willing to sponsor the popup. We appreciate your insight and experience with this vendor and others. Best!
Laura, Staff Writer
Martin Medenica
Hey Allison,
Nice work! For the updated version of the article I suggest including whether applicants can initiate the screening themselves or if the landlord/property manager is required to initiate the process from the service providers website. Sending a link is much easier and faster and there is less frustration if an applicant decides to not move forward with the screening.
Best,
-Martin
Kateryna Ivanchenko
Guys, really really check your tenants before to rent your property! The best suggestion ever!
Not far ago I gave an apt for the good-looking businessman with nice smile, calm character etc. In one week my neighbors started to call a police each night as that guy gave my apt to his friends who used it for drunk parties with prostitutes. After 1,5 month they stayed there I had to make a new design. The bed was broken, the white ceiling was in red wine etc. Checking him afterward I get know that he had a lot of scandals before as with tenants, as with colleagues, as with competitors…
Dont repeat my mistake! Read this article carefully and follow the instructions.
P.S. Personally I used https://www.spokeo.com/ which also not listed here. Maybe someone would like it 😉
Allison Bethell
Hi Kateryna:
Thank you so much for checking out our site and commenting on the article. I’m glad you enjoyed it. You’re correct, it’s important to properly screen tenants before accepting them as tenants in your rental property. Thanks for letting us know what service you used, we will check them out and consider them as a company to include when we update the article. Check out our other real estate investing articles for more fresh content.
All the best,
Allison